Award for St Paul's Leader

National College for School Leadership

A school business manager is bringing the latest in financial and commercial expertise to their role at St Paul's after gaining a prestigious, internationally-accredited qualification.

Laurie Perry was one of only 45 school business managers (SBMs) from across the country to be awarded the Advanced Diploma of School Business Management (ADSBM) in the latest phase of the programme.

The School Business Management programme dates back to 2002 and is run by the National College for School Leadership. The ADSBM qualification is designed to give school business managers high-level strategic financial and administrative management skills that are becoming increasingly important with a rapidly changing educational environment and pressure on budgets.

Trevor Summerson, Head of School Business Management at the National College for School Leadership, said: “Graduates like Laurie should feel proud of their achievement as they are now highly qualified to make an invaluable contribution to the smooth running of schools and the drive to raise standards. School business managers have an increasingly vital role to play in schools today by applying latest skills to a broad range of key school functions, including performance management, strategic financial management and organisational change. They are adept at making money go further and they can also free headteachers from many non teaching tasks so heads and other teachers can concentrate on leading teaching and learning.”

The ADSBM course is aimed at experienced SBMs and suitably qualified individuals operating outside of the education sector. It typically takes about 18 months to complete using a variety of study methods including face to face sessions, online learning, private study, self-evaluation and an in-school project. Participants can also support each other through a special online community.

The course is accredited by the Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) and on completion participants receive the ADSBM from the National College and the IAM level 6 Diploma in School Business Management.

Rob Carter, Headteacher, said: "Laurie makes an exceptional contribution to our leadership team at St Paul's. He has also been fully involved in our outreach work in support of other schools. The work he and the support staff teams do enable us to make St Paul's an outstanding Catholic school in every way. Congratulations on this significant achievement."

www.nationalcollege.org.uk/sbm